South Africa: Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Committee Mobilises Joint Oversight to Tackle Municipal Audit Failures
This follows the alarming municipal audit outcomes that the Office of the Auditor-General (AG) reported to the committee earlier this year.
During the committee meeting this morning, the Chairperson, Dr Zweli Mkhize, expressed deep concern at the lack of progress in municipal finances. The audit outcomes for local government for the 2023/24 financial year showed that only 16% of 257 municipalities achieved clean audits, while the rest either regressed or remained stagnant, with audit opinions ranging from qualified to disclaimers or non-submissions. When she presented the audit outcomes to the committee earlier this year, the AG noted that, despite having exercised all available remedial powers under the amended Public Audit Act, the audit outcomes remained largely unimproved.
In response to this, Dr Mkhize said that the committee will adopt a revised and more collaborative oversight model with a focus on intergovernmental accountability. Based on this new model, the committee will, with relevant oversight committees, conduct joint visits to provinces and municipalities, beginning with the Free State on 24 and 25 July. Oversight visits to the North West and Eastern Cape will then follow. According to the Chairperson, the committee wants to avoid duplication, promote institutional coherence and ensure that every sphere of government accounts for its constitutional responsibilities through this collaboration.
During these oversight visits, Members of Parliament will engage with Premiers, Speakers of the provincial legislatures, Members of Executive Councils (MECs), municipal mayors, Speakers of municipal councils, and accounting officers. Provincial legislatures will also be involved in the process. 'The purpose of this,' the Chairperson said, 'is to evaluate the systemic causes behind repeat audit failures and to demand clear responses on what corrective actions have been taken and what measures are in place to prevent further regression.' The focus is on accountability and ensuring that there are consequences to prevent repeat offenders, the Chairperson said, adding that this will help improve governance and ensure effective service delivery.
He said the committees would pay particular attention to repeat disclaimer audit opinions, the poor quality of financial statements, overreliance on consultants without any tangible improvement, and persistent irregular expenditure. Unfunded budgets, non-functional internal audit units and poor contract management will also come under the spotlight.
Dr Mkhize confirmed that the committee sought legal clarity about coordinating oversight across spheres of government. He said the committee solicited several legal opinions to ensure the planned oversight is rooted in the principles of cooperative governance with due regard for the autonomy of each sphere of government. The Chairperson said the committee is satisfied that the oversight plan now aligns with constitutional provisions.
'This new approach,' he said, 'reflects Parliament's commitment to proactively preventing dysfunction rather than reacting to failures. It is designed to hold not only municipalities accountable but also provincial governments, which are constitutionally obligated under Section 154 of the Constitution to support and monitor local government. Premiers and MECs will therefore be asked to account for how they have fulfilled their oversight roles, particularly in cases where municipalities have consistently underperformed.'
The Chairperson said this joint oversight model is an institutional response to the Auditor-General's earlier call for decisive intervention and her letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly. 'The Office of the Auditor-General should not be placed in a position where it is compelled to perform administrative duties, such as correcting municipal submissions,' he said. 'The AG's function is to provide independent audit outcomes, not to compensate for governance failures.'
Dr Mkhize reiterated the importance of this new collaborative oversight approach and said it is an important shift from fragmented accountability to a much-needed collective responsibility. 'We intend for this model to serve not only as a corrective measure but also as a blueprint for systemic reform and to ensure that audit reports reflect tangible improvements in governance and service delivery at the municipal level,' he said.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
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